I love it. once again the saints have gone about there buisness without alot of fan fair, from the media that is. Just like last year. We may not have rolled over the starting line up like last year but we have added some nice additions to the units. I looking for a big improvement from special teams play this year. Last year it killed us. I will go out on a limb and say the defense was an issue but the special team was just as big of an issue. The FAs and draft leads me to belive it was a key issue for the saints and they wanted to address this year. That is a good thing. Remeber Dallas. When an on side kick gets you the same results as a kick off you got big problems. If the Saints can get into the top 10 in special teams play that will get us at least 2 more victories next year. The old timers know all about special teams play. There were years that was all we had. Next year we will probly go for impact players on the defense and special teams if we prove we have built a solid core first. That seeems to be Shawns' MO.

this draft is possibly a+
or d-,the training camps ,injuries,and attitudes will tell.the small school signee's are as athletic as the majors and may have enough attitude to go farther than some more famous ones.trust our coachs which are the best since mora's staff(with exception of carl smith)

You can't force the draft. When you draft for need you set yourself up for a bust (see Lions, Detroit). I honestly think that the FO didn't see a lot of later round defensive guys that they thought would make an impact and it would be silly to think that 3rd, 4th and later round rookies are going to get you over the hump to the SB. Colston was a great pick, but it was still a fluke. Always draft the BPA regardless. There are more seasons to worry about than the next one.

On a side note, it looks like we have the best UDFA class in the league.

I'm seeing a bunch of new names on the board and just want to say welcome aboard to them all.

Thanks!

Just a couple of things regarding the last couple of points made by the previous posters.

BPA - Not as prevelant in the later rounds. It's great to put yourself in position to draft the BPA and in the 1st round you hope to always be able to draft the BPA, to a point. Let me first say that I agree with the Meachem pick on the grounds of being the BPA according to our board. I wouldn't go so far as to say that you 'always' draft the BPA however. Common sense has to come into play. For example, it wouldn't have been a good decision for us to draft a QB at 27 this year regardless of BPA. Also, as the rounds go by, there probably has to be a certain gap between the BPA and the BPA at a position of need. As a basic philosophy, the BPA is a good one but even the teams that believe in it probably stray from it as the rounds go on if the gap between BPA and players of need is not significant.

And secondly

You mean that Usama Young was a better player available than Jonathan Wade from Tenn? How about C.Jones over Tarrell Brown from Texas? Both Wade and Brown had almost identical measureables to that of Young and Jones and you have to give the edge to Wade and Brown in the competition factor

U Young and D Jones were 4 yr starters or close to it on their respective teams. This means there was a lot of film on these guys. I'm sure the Saints did factor in the level of competition and chose them anyway. Not being invited to the combine becomes somewhat insignificant because Young got everyone's attention with his workout but didn't climb the charts on that alone. There was plenty film out there to make a determination on both of these guys. Add to that, both players are believed to have exceptionally high character, and there's reason to feel good about these picks.